Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite: The Road To Sweeter Dreams

Winter is upon us and as the temperature drops it’s time to get cozy. But before you snuggle up under those covers, here’s a thought or two to consider about your mattress.

In the United States, mattresses are legally required to be treated with toxic fire retardants, usually containing formaldehyde or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). These dangerous chemicals have been linked to cancer, slow brain development, hormone disruption, asthma, skin rashes and hives. Lately, high levels of PBDEs have been found in the breast milk of North American women, making newborn babies doubly vulnerable to the effects of this chemical.

We spend a lot of time in our beds, with our mouths and noses pressed close to the mattresses and bedding. Next time you buy a new mattress, or if you are currently experiencing symptoms such as headaches, asthma, burning eyes or lungs, consider purchasing a mattress made from organic cotton or natural latex and wrapped in wool (which is a naturally fire resistant material). By doing this, you can avoid breathing in many of the fumes offgassing from standard mattresses.

Even if a new mattress is not in your budget, there are things you can do to help protect yourself against sensitivity triggers like dust mites and offgassing chemicals: use organic cotton bedding (conventional cotton accounts for 25% of the world’s pesticide use!); wash your sheets every two weeks in hot water; use an organic cotton or wool mattress cover is a useful barrier to put some distance between you and the mattress. In addition, you can consider an organic cotton futon mattress, which is considerably less expensive than a cotton/wool/latex mattress and can be a good compromise, especially for kids’ rooms. Be careful, though: even organic cotton futons and mattress covers can be treated with boric acid, so if you’d like a mattress truly free of all flame retardant chemicals, ask your doctor for a prescription and present it to your local mattress retailer—s/he can special order you a clean mattress (just make sure your smoke detectors work!).